Playing-cards.



R. L. HICKS. PLAYING CARDS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. I916.

Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

INVENTOR,

WITNESSES A'TTORNEY R. L. HICKS.

PLAYING CARDS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. 1916.

1,215,657. Q Patented Feb. 13, 1911.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

WITNESSES R. L. HICKS.

PLAYING CARDS. APPLICATION FlLED JUNK-I12. I916.

1,21 5,657. Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

A'ITORNEY FFE.

RUFUS LEE HICKS, OF COLUMBIA, MISSOURI.

PLAYINGECARDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-Feb. 13, 1917.

Application filed June 12, 1916. Serial No. 103,241.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Burns L. HICKS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Golumbia, in the county of Boone and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Playing-Cards, of which the following is a specification. V

This invention relates to playing cards, and its object is to provide a series of playing cards with which special games of cards and some ordinary games of cards may be played, and which may be used for playing certain games not usuallyplayed with cards.

In accordance with the present invention a certain number of arbitrary symbols or indiciaare chosen, and these are arranged in a certain predetermined order upon a suitable number of cards to produce a certain number of suits each comprising a certain number of cards, the entire number of cards constituting a pack.

The symbols are in number the same as the number of suits, and an odd number of symbols are chosen so that on each card, of each suit there may appear one symbol which is common to all the'cards of the suit, and also a pair of differing symbols with each pair of symbols in a suit differing from every other pair in the suit. Therefore, the number of cards in a suit is equal to one half of a number representing one less than the number of symbols or suits, or this may where A is an odd number of symbols. If, for instance, there beeleven symbols, one of these symbols will appear in the same position on all the cards of the suit, say, at the middle of the card, and a pair of different symbols will appear atopposite corner portions of the cards of the suit,-th e symbols of each pair differing from each other and from the symbols of all the other pairs of the suit.

There occur, therefore, in each suit, in the event of eleven symbols being used, five cards having a common central symbol and then other symbols, a pair of which occurs be expressed as on each card with none of the ten symbols repeated on any card of the suit. The common central symbol of the suit may be known as a face card, while the other symbols may be known as low cards and occupy two diagonally opposite corners of each card.

Arbitrary symbols, names and values may be given to the cards, but the cards ofthe whole pack are arranged in accordance with a single system, as will hereinafter appear. The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, with the further understanding that while the drawings show a practical form of the invention, the latter is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings, but may be changed and modified so long as such changes and modifications come within the scope of the appended claims. 7

In the drawings Figures 1 to 5 are face views of the consecutive cards of a single suit of five cards.

Fig. 6 is a face view of a dominant card usually termed a joker.

Figs. 7 to 16 are face views of the first or highest card of a corresponding number of suits. I

Fig. 17 is a diagram illustrating the manner of choosing the suits and the arrangement of symbols upon the cards ofthe suits.

While the game is not limited to any particular symbols or number of symbols, it is illustrated in the drawings as including eleven symbols so arranged as to provide eleven suits of five cards each, the joker being an extra card'which' may or mayno be used.

In. the particular arrangement chosen, the symbols include an eagle, an arch, a mace, a cross, a glass, an anchor, links, a balance, a square, a dial, and keys. Each card comprises three of the symbols with one symbol at the center of the card and two other symbols at opposite sides of the central symbol and'in a line diagonal of thecard, so that the two second-named symbols occupy diagonally opposite corner portions of the card. The other diagonahcorners of the card contain indexes in miniature of the symbols on the card and alsoa letter and a number showing the face and numerical value of the symbols on the card.

In order to produce the original lay out of the cards, the diagram of Fig-'17 is employed. Upon this diagram, represented at 1 in Fig. 17, there is a circular series of symbols 2 to 12, inclusive, 2 being the eagle,

3 the arch, 4c the mace, 5 the cross, 6 the glass, 7' the anchor, 8 the links, 9 the balance, 10 the square, 11 the dial, and 12 the keys, which are the symbols hereinbefore referred to, and which, of course, may be replaced by any other desired set of symbols.

WVithin the circle of symbols is an arrow or pointer 13 having at one end a head it and capable of turning about a central point 15. The pointer 13 carries pairs of oppositely directed pointers 16, 17 respectively, there being as many such pairs of pointers as there are to be cards in a suit, so that in the particular arrangement shown there ar five such pairs of pointers 16, 17 and all are assumed to be rotatable about the center 15 with the pointer 13.

As the diagram shows in Fig. 17, the pointer 13 is toward the eagle 2, wherefore the eagle may be considered as the face or center symbol of the suit indicated in the showing of Fig. 17 This suit is represented -in detail in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, and embraces five cards, each card being represented at 18. At the center of each card 18 there is printed an eagle 2. Associated with the eagle and located near one corner of the first card is a representation of the keys 12, while at the other diagonal corner of the card is a representation of the arch 3, these being the two symbols to which the pointers 16 and 17 close to the head 14 of the pointer 13 indicate. This constitutes the principal card of the suit, and, therefore, it is termed the ace, being so marked on the diagram, Fig. 17, and the corner indexes of the first card of the suit which is represented in Fig 1, contain the letter A at 19, as indicating to the possessor that the card is the ace card of the eagle suit.

The second card of the eagle suit con tains the eagle 2, as before, at the center of the card, but the next set of pointers in the diagram of Fig. 17 indicate the dial 11 and the mace 4, respectively, the diagram being read counterclockwise. This constituting the second card of the suit is known as the king card, and, therefore, the index contains the letter K, indicated at 20, to show to the holder of the card the relative value of the suit symbol in the suit. Following the king card, is the queen card, so that in the next card in order having the eagle 2, the corner indeX contains the let ter Q, indicated at 21, to show the value of the card as that of queen. The pointers 16 and 17 corresponding to the queen po sition designate the square 10 and the cross 5, respectively, and these symbols occur in their proper order diagonally of the card and on opposite sides of the eagle 2. In like manner the card of Fig. i constituting the fourth card of the suit has the value of a jack, so that the corner index contains the letter J at 22, and from the diagram of Fig. 17 the card has the balance 9 and glass 6 at diagonally opposite corners. The fifth card of the suit, represented in Fig. 5, has the eagle 2 as the designating card of the suit, and the links 8 and anchor 7 at diagonally opposite corners as demanded by the diagram of Fig. 17. This card is given the name of castle, wherefore in the corner index there is the letter C at 23.

It is the center symbol, namely, the eagle, that has the various values of ace, king, queen, etc., while the other symbols consisting of the arch 3, keys 12, etc., have other values. Because of the arrangement of the diagram of Fig. 17 the upper right hand corners of the cards of the suit contain the keys, dial, square, balance and links as they appear in counterclockwise order upon the diagram 17, and the lower left hand corners of the same cards contain the arch, mace, cross, glass and anchor as they appear in clockwise order on the dial 17. These corner symbols have, however, values given to them in accordance with their counterclockwise order on the diagram of Fig. 17, and these values are represented by appropriate numbers beginning with 10 for the keys, which number is shown at at in Fig. 1, and the numbers decrease regularly as shown at 25 to 33, respectively, in those corners opposite the corresponding symbols, so that beginning with the keys and ending with the arch the symbols with the exception of the suit symbol, which in the particular instance is the eagle, have the values 10 to 1, in order.

The cards of a suit, therefore, each contains at its center the suit symbol and at the upper right hand corners others of the symbols in a chosen order with adjacent numbers at the opposite upper corner giving the numerical values of these symbols, while the lower left hand corners of the cards contain the remaining symbols in the opposite order to the first symbols with the numerical values in the opposite lower corners, while the indexes beside containing the numerical values of the symbols also contain letters representing the face values of the respective cards.

In like manner other suits are chosen with the ace card of each suit only being shown in Figs. 7 to 16, inclusive. If the suit symbol be the arch 3, as shown in Fig. 7, then the eagle 2 and mace 4E occupy the upper right hand corner and lower left hand corner, respectively, while the letter A, indicated at 19, and the numbers 10 and 1, indicated at 2st and 33, respectively, have their places in the corner indexes, as before.

In like manner the other suits are ascertained and the symbols are arranged upon the cards, as indicated by the ace cards of the suits shown in Figs. 8, 9, etc., Where the symbols are indicated by appropriate reference numerals, but detailed description of their choosing is unnecessary.

In Fig. 6 there is indicated a card 18 with an arbitrary symbol 3a thereon and index. representations 35 ofthis symbol appear in opposite corners of the card. The card of Fig. 6 constitutes the joker of the pack, and needsno' further description, since it may be used in the game in the same manner as joker cards are used in any game, or may be omitted at the option of the players.

Moreover, the suits are so arranged that their values form the following five combinations: 1O ace 1; 9 K 2; 8 Q 3; 7 J 4; 6 G 5. The end values of each card 18 added make 11, and there are three symbols of three different suits upon each card.

lVhile the cards of the present invention may be used for playing certain well known games in accordance with the customary rules of such games, the invention is designed particularly for playing a game in accordance with certain rules which may be stated as follows:

Six cards are dealt from the pack to each player, three cards being dealt at a. time, and then a card is turned up from the deck. The opponent at the dealers left chooses a suit from the end of the card turned up on the deck, and this suit constitutes what is termed the house of the player choosing it. The dealer then takes the suit represented by the symbol at the other end of the card for his house. Both houses have the same standing and there are ten points ranging from 1 to 10 in each house. The purpose of the game is to acquire these ten points in the tricks taken and to place them as taken in the house of the player. The play may begin at the'dealers left and proceed in order.

All the cards of the two suits represented by the end symbols of the card turned up on the deck are trumps, and there are five high trumps and ten low trumps in each suit. Nothing lower than the castle of any suit counts in taking a trick outside of the two trump suits. Moreover, the first card played holds the trick until outclassed by a higher card of the same suit, or until the trick is taken by'a trump card. In any case the highest trump takes the trick.

The player taking the trick places all his points taken in the trick in his house and holds the points of his opponents house in his tricks.

hen the hands have been played, all the cards including those in the tricks, but excluding the cards in the houses and the card first turned, are shuflied and dealt again and played as before. The play is continued in this way until one player has nine points in his house, whereupon he is entitled to the card first turned upon the deck and the point on this card then completes a' full house of ten points.

If the first player leads a trump the other players must follow suit if they have it. The 7 five doubles in the pack and all the other cards are played by the end or low suits. A player making a pair of the same suit wins five points, or making three of the same suit wins ten points, and four of the same suit wins fifteen points, the values marked on the cards not counting in the game of dominoes. In the same Way a player making a misplay may be called uponv to forfeit, say, five points. Aside from the special rules named, the play is the same as in ordinary dominoes.

That is claimed is '1. A card game having the same number of suitsand difierent symbols, with each suit including all the symbols of which one is common to all the cards of a suit and the other symbols each occurring once in the suit.

2. card game having an odd number of diiferent symbols and as many suits as symbols, with the number of cards in a suit equal to one-half of a number represented by one less than the number of symbols.

3. A card game having an odd number of different symbols and as many suits as there are symbols with the number of cards in a suit equal to one-half of a number represented by one less than the number of symbols, and the cards of the suit containing all the symbols of which one occurs on all the cards of the suit and the other symbols occur but once in the suit.

a. A card game having a plurality of suits and including an odd number of symbols with the cards of a suit including all the symbols and each card of each suit containing an odd number of difierent symbols of which one is common to all the cards of the suit.

5. A card game including cards divided into a plurality of suits, with each card of a suit containing a group of difierent sym bols arranged diagonally of the card, with one symbol common to all the cards of the suit and the other symbols difi'ering and occurring but once in a suit.

6. A card game having an odd number of symbols with the number of suits equal to the number of symbols,'each card of a suit containing a group of three different symv bols arranged diagonally of the card with the intermediate symbol centralized on the card and common to all the cards of thesuit and the other symbols on the card differing one from the other and occurring but once in the suit.

7 A card game having a plurality of different symbols and as many suits as symbols, all the symbols occurring ineach suit and the grouping of the symbols following a predetermined order throughout all the suits, with the arrangement of symbols in one suit differing from the arrangement of all the other suits and each suit having a symbol common to all the cards of the suit and determining the suit.

8. A card game having a plurality of different symbols and as many suits as symbols, each suit including all the symbols and the grouping of the symbols following a predetermined order throughout all the suits, each card having a face value determined by the arrangement of the symbols on the card and those symbols on the card other than the one common to all the cards of the suit having numerical values difi'ering in the different suits.

9. A card game having a plurality of different symbols and as many suits as symbols, each suit including all the symbols and the grouping of the symbols following a predetermined order throughout all the suits, each card having a face value determined by the arrangement of the symbols on the card and those symbols on the card other than the one common to all the cards of the copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the suit having numerical values difiering in the different suits, with the sum of said nu- 'merical values of each card being the same as that of any other card.

10. A card game having a plurality of different symbols and as many suits as symbols, each suit including all the symbols and the grouping of the symbols following a predetermined order throughout all the suits, each card having a face value determined by the arrangement of the symbols on the card and those symbols on the card other than the one common to all the cards of the suit having numerical values differing in the different suits, with the sum of said numerical values on each card being the same as that of any other card, and each card having a corner index of the symbols on the card and also the face value and the numerical values of those symbols adjacent to the indexes.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

RUFUS LEE HICKS. Witnesses C. B. LONG, R. R. ENGLISH.

Commissioner of Iatents, 1

Washington, D. C." 

